OPEN DEBATE ON KASHMIR

India had spent crores of public money to safeguard our borders; thousands of our brave men have given their lives to secure our borders. The War with our neighbour is not a footnote in history, but a chapter of sacrifice made by our army men. The cat on the wall Maharaja Harisingh’s clan till today enjoys patronage from the ruling establishment as reward for bartering their loyalty to India. The Indian Army only needed a nod from Indian Prime Minister at a crucial period of Indian history to drive Pakisthan out of Kashmir. The Indian Home Minister Sardar Vallabai Patel was urging Indian Prime Minister to give green signal to our Army Chief Major General Kariappa to secure Hyderabad and Kashmir at one go. While Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru consented for army intervention in Hyderabad, which fell for Indian arm in a day, hesitated to give his consent with regard to Kashmir. This indecision resulted in ever bleeding never-ending Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan. It is not treason to look back at history.

Similarly it is not a sin to pin point the blunders committed by our bureaucrats. Only politicians are portrayed as villains but bureaucrats enjoy immunity. This is bad practice. While workforce of the country, the real masters in a democracy are subjected a hire and fire policy, why not hire and fire policy be framed for bureaucrats and only such a whip will make them deliver goods without delay to the people.

We reproduce a letter addressed to then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on 5.1.2004. His government did not act nor I hope any government by bureaucrats and for bureaucrats will punish the guilty. But people of the country, the supreme power in a democracy have the right to know where and how it went wrong.

Hon’ble Prime Minister of India

Thiru.Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Respected Atalji

Subject: A white paper sought on the Kashmir issue to evolve national consensus and fix responsibility for faulty maps

All Indians will echo your feelings with regards to the Pakistan’s bartering away of Kashmiri territory to China, our neighbour. At the moment out of the total area of 222.336 square kilometers of Kashmiri state the possession is as follows:

Area of Jammu and Kashmir in possession of India:101,387 square kilometers.

Illegally occupied by Pakistan:78,114 square kilometers

Illegally handed over to China by Pakistan:42,735 square kilometers

Illegal occupation of China and Pakistan: 120,849 square kilometers

All this is shown as total area of Jammu and Kashmir 222,336 square kilometers. This figure is shown from 1988/89 to 1999 in all manuals brought out by the Ministry of information and Broadcasting.

So while with spirit of nationalism and patriotism we are ready to share your feeling of hurt for Pakistan’s handing over an area of 42,735 square kilometers to China. But let me request your office to trace out my letter-dated 24.8.1999 in which I had complained first about the following grave mistake.

I humbly submit that from the Source of INDIA: A REFERENCE MANUAL 1953 brought out by the Publications Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in page 1…. “THE AREA OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR STATE WAS GIVEN AS 92,780 square miles which is equivalent to 240,300.20 square kilometers. How could this become 222.336 square kilometers in 1988?

Pakistan holds 78,114 square kilometers. China owns 42,735 square kilometers. India owns 101,387 square kilometers. By mistakes committed by our bureaucracy in preparing faulty maps, we have lost 18,036.20 square kilometers. Are we to take it for granted that 18.036.20 square kilometers vanished into thin air? Like Bermuda’s triangle in our earth’s oceans do we have a Bermuda’s triangle in our Ministries, which had swallowed 18,036.20 square kilometers? Who is responsible for this? Who is going to be held accountable for this? Are we going to find scapegoats? Or whether The National Democratic Alliance Government has the moral guts to fix the responsibility on the Congress governments that caused this national loss to our country?

While 1953 Manual says 92,780 square miles equivalent to 240.300.20 square kilometers, in 1960 Edition the area becomes 86,024 square miles equivalent to 222.802.16 square kilometers. Official reference journal published by a Ministry of the Government of India in 1960 at page 24-25, a district wise break up of the area of Jammu And Kashmir State is given. The total of this area arrives at a figure of 84,476 square miles, which is equivalent to 218,792.84 square kilometers.

In 1964 Edition page 7 has a different story to tell. It contains two different figures. In the column area figure a) shows 86,023 square miles equivalent to 222.799.57 square kilometers. Figure (b) shows 56665 square miles, which is under Indian possession. This amounts to 146,762.25 square kilometers? In 1965 Edition page 7 changes over to 222.896.78 square kilometers? In 1966 Edition page 7 Area of Jammu and Kashmir once again changed to 222,800 square kilometers? In 1968 Edition page 8 area of Jammu and Kashmir once again changed to 222,870 square kilometers .In 1988-89 edition the area of Jammu and Kashmir was shown as 222.236 square kilometers. In the very same edition in a different page693, the area of Jammu and Kashmir was shown as 222.236 square kilometers and a note inserted which stated “That this area includes 78,114 square kilometers under illegal occupation of Pakistan, 5280 square kilometers illegally handed over by Pakistan to China and 37,555 square kilometers illegally occupied by China “